Elden Ring Tarnished Edition Adds Two New Classes, One Already Got Adjusted Before Launch
FromSoftware finally confirmed the full stats for both new classes coming in the Tarnished Edition DLC. It costs $5. You get two new starting classes and a peek at a whole new nation called Idus that nobody had heard of before. Here's what you're actually working with.
The Heavy Knight: Built for Faith, Starts at Level 10
The Heavy Knight starts at level 10 with a curved greatsword and a new armor set. Faith and Mind users are going to be comfortable here. Worth noting: the playtest version started at level 8 with lower stats, and FromSoftware bumped it to level 10 with +1 Faith and +1 Mind before release. That's a small adjustment but it tells you the class was probably starting too lean for what it's supposed to do.
A curved greatsword as your starter weapon is an interesting choice. Not the obvious pick for a Faith build, but that's kind of the point with these classes. FromSoftware isn't just handing you a straight sword and calling it a day.
The Knight of Idus: Getting the Milady at Level 7
This one's more interesting to me. The Knight of Idus starts at level 7 with a new armor set, a shield, and the Milady light greatsword. If you played Shadow of the Erdtree, you know that weapon. It was exclusive to that DLC and a lot of people built around it. Handing it to a starting class changes how early you can commit to a Milady build without hunting for it.
Compared to the Samurai, Idus Knight trades Arcane, Vigor, and Intelligence for more Faith and Strength. That's a significant tradeoff. You're giving up the flexibility Arcane brings and taking a Vigor hit at a class that starts at level 7. This is not a beginners class if you care about survivability early.
The Idus Nation: Something New
Neither of these classes existed in Elden Ring before. And Idus, the nation they're tied to, wasn't mentioned anywhere in the base game or Shadow of the Erdtree. One possibility is the DLC builds a new area or lore around this. Could also just be flavor for the starting class. The classes and their gear pieces are all new to Tarnished Edition, so there's at least some world-building happening here, even if we don't know the scope yet.
Drops August 28 on PC and Switch 2
PC release is August 28. Same day as the Nintendo Switch 2 version. Five dollars gets you both classes plus whatever else Tarnished Edition is bringing. The class stats leaked from a playtest before FromSoftware confirmed them officially, which is how we found out about the Heavy Knight adjustment. The final numbers are now confirmed.
For $5, two new starting classes with new gear is a reasonable deal if you want an excuse to run a fresh build. The Milady on day one is probably the bigger hook for returning players.
Source: Pcgamer